Hugh Nowell was born in 1927, the son of John and Margaret. John was the head of a family tannery business in Runcorn, Cheshire. The Nowells had been deeply influenced by their encounter with The Oxford Group and John had taken the unusual step in those days of setting up a works council. He thus kept his employees informed about the business and consulted them about the decisions that needed to be made.
Hugh was the younger brother of Kent and Christine, who later married Richard Channer.
He was only 13 when he decided to live his life as God wanted. As a first step he decided to talk to his father about things in his life which he was ashamed of. But ‘my father was not the sort of person one spoke to: he was a very busy businessman,’ recalled Hugh. When he finally plucked up the courage to approach his father, their conversation had a ‘dramatic effect’. ‘I felt free in a way I had never experienced before. From then on I was quite clear that God could be a personal force for me.’
He was at the opening of Caux in 1946 and helped with the physical work of getting the place in shape before that.
After gaining a Chemistry degree from Oxford University, Hugh started to give all his time to MRA. He was then part of the group that went to Germany and helped build bridges between the former enemy nations. During this period, and much against his instincts, he found himself acting in a play which was produced after the Second World War by MRA. This continued off and on for 11 years.
In the 1950s, he worked in the USA and, in 1957, in Mackinac, Michigan, he married Carolyn Crary, who was also working full-time with MRA. She came from Palo Alto, California. She was just a month older than him.
For most of their married life, Hugh and Carolyn lived in London, where their two sons, John and Kent were born.
Hugh played a major role in MRA’s publishing ventures, being the prime mover in the setting up of Grosvenor Books. With David (qv) and Elizabeth Locke (qv) and a succession of younger volunteers, Grosvenor Books operated from the ground floor of 54 Lyford Road in Wandsworth for some 25 years. Most years, Hugh represented Grosvenor at the International Book Fair in Frankfurt. He says that one of his most exciting undertakings was launching a publishing operation in Moscow before the end of the Cold War. He retired from Grosvenor books in 1988
Hugh was deeply involved with his local United Reformed Church in Wimbledon and was still part of the choir well into his 90s.
Carolyn always supported Hugh in his work as well as in raising their sons. Kent has Downs Syndrome and is a regular fixture on a street corner near their home where he enjoys greeting passers-by. He is now living independently in Mitcham, south-west London.
Carolyn’s support continued when, in 1990, Hugh was one of the founders, with Bill Porter, of the International Communications Forum, which aimed to bring moral values into the publishing industry. She died in 2022.
Hugh lives in a retirement home in Wimbledon, still within walking distance of the church which he has supported for so many years.
